To begin with, we are not generally wine drinkers, in fact, before now, I hardly ever finished more than 4 ounces of wine in one sitting, and rarely even drank wine... I just did not get into it. Furthermore, I have tended to quickly tire of the taste of any particular wine. But, that has all changed, thanks to this fantastic Sobreiro de Pegões Vinho Tinto from Portugal — a lovely deep-bodied red wine that is just wonderful!

We now regularly consume a bottle of this Sobreiro de Pegões red wine per week, and on occasion, as much as two bottles. For wine drinking enthusiasts, this may still not sound like much wine, but for us it is truly quite a bit. And, having now consumed this particular wine (both the 2013 and 2014 vintages) for 6 months or more now, we still both enjoy it as much now as we did during the first tasting.

Although my wine experience is somewhat limited, I have never tasted anything like this in the USA previously, and I have tried all sorts of wines from various regions of the world in hopes of sooner or later finding something I truly enjoy. My prior wine experiences have ranged from bargain-basement "Two-buck Chuck" (i.e., Trader Joe's Charles Shaw brand), to regional wines from across America, to some foreign ones from England, France, Italy, Australia, and Brazil to name a few. I have even tried some rather fancy wines that friends have served, and yet never really got into any of them. Along the way, I have found some to be "OK", but never anything I could really enjoy repeatedly over long periods of time. But, my search for a truly repeatedly reliably delicious and satisfying red wine is over, with Sobreiro being my all time favorite.

Taste and Profile

Smooth and balanced is an understatement. It is not overly sweet nor overly dry, it is somewhere in the middle, and at just the right point on that scale in my opinion. And, it is so complex in its tones and finish, all in a desirable way. It has a finish of caramelized sugar and vanilla or such. Fabulous. And, the initial hit is very much fresh red and dark berries, with a middle tone sequence of, heck, I dunno, tobacco or spices or something (I need a real wine snob to come up with a good description) but incredibly mild and wonderful with the deep tones of ripe berries among the grapes. It is just really good!

Now, keep in mind, I am not a real wine critic by any means. I just know that we are really enjoying this wine a lot. Though, I have also noted that other reviewers have given it rather high marks. If you want to read how the producer describes their wine, click this Google-Translate of that Sobreiro de Pegões webpage in order to come pretty close in English (the original site is in Portuguese).

Note: I am assuming this is gluten-free, as most wines should be, having not found anything to indicate otherwise and having not had any reaction at all to it after repeated exposure.

Price

This is where the wine becomes even more amazing. We have been paying approximately USD $3.00/bottle when we purchase the Sobreiro de Pegões wine on sale. Local sellers have shown list prices of up to $10-$11 USD per bottle, but there have been some truly deep-discount sales on this wine: twice in the past 6 months we have encountered these sales at the Continente Hipermercados stores. So, when it goes on sale, we stock up.

The price alone makes the quality of the product even more incredibly hard to believe. I have tasted $40 wines in the USA that can't match this $3.00 wine. Sadly, the one thing I do not know is whether this wine can be purchased anywhere in the United States. I have seen it sold throughout the EU, Hong Kong, and even New Zealand per my online searches, but I cannot determine if any United States dealers are carrying it. If you know of any, post a link here. But, maybe you can get together with a few friends an import a pallet of 420 bottles at a time directly from the company (I noticed their packaging details on that same web page)... it only weighs 555Kg! (a mere 1200 pounds).

Enjoy!

Continue to read this Gluten-Free Blog for all sorts of gluten-free recipes, product-reviews, and related information. In addition, visit my Gluten-Free Recipes Site where many of the recipes I have featured on this blog are available.

2 comments:

I totally agree with your opinion. But I cant believe you paying $3-!! Im now at the Lisbon airport reviewing the fine wines ive had during a nice weekend in this great city. I drank this particular wine in a small wine shop/cafe. I paid $30 for a bottle!! So stocking up is a very wise decision. Enjoy the great taste of Portugal. Greetings Robbert (AMS-NED)

Hey Robert, Nice to hear that you equally enjoy this fantastic wine. It is truly fantastic. As to the price, all I can say is that it "lists" (i.e., its regular price) has been EUR 10, and if one was to multiply that by a normal cafe markup (??) perhaps it should be $30/bottle (~27.5 EUR)... got me. But, my wife and I have been lucky enough to catch some wonderful sales, at Continente in particular, where we have seen it go as low as that 3EUR/bottle mark.

Fact is, even at the list price, I would have to purchase it, since it is quite simply our favorite wine of all time.

Glad you enjoyed Lisbon too. Spread the word: this city and surrounding region are just lovely!mike

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Gluten-Free Blog by Mike Eberhart

Like all gluten-free / Celiac persons, I want to live life to the fullest and not feel encumbered by the dietary constraints of a lifelong disease. I hope this GlutenFree Blog helps you quickly make the transition to an enjoyable and fulfilling life as you adapt to Celiac Disease and find safe and delicious alternatives for your new gluten-free diet.

Note: This site is not intended for use as a source of health, medical, legal, or professional advice, and I assume no responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or any thing else resulting from you reading this blog.